February Entry: The Bone Harvest Horror

[Ghostman]

Awesome! Even the difficult-to-depict transitions between levels look good.

The demon skeleton (?) could use some work though. It looks a bit comical and seems to have no knees on it's legs. And you should totally make the minotaur's axe dripping with blood

[Immolate]

Thank you for the suggestions Ghostman. I'll take them under advisement. In the meantime, I fleshed out the floorplan for the lower level and I submit it for your consideration.

### Latest Wip ###

[su_liam]

I like the upper level and the lower level. I find the maze of twisty passages in the middle level troublesome. If you enter the level at B1, it appears the only way out is through the secret door, which circumvents all those cool monsters. The minotaur is inaccessible from B1 if you don't pass out of the secret door, You have to get to him via B5. If you went down the mouth at A11 and get past the critter at B6, the path to B11 and thence down is pretty straightforward allowing the adventurers to miss out on the second level. The infinitesimal thickness of the maze walls jars with the rest of the map(and also, less importantly, with my taste), and also causes problems with the iso images and labels. Iso images in other, more spread, out parts of the dungeon can overlap with the background to a degree without obscuring important details. These same features can easily obscure paths through the maze sections. Faced with a maze like this, my first instinct as a dwarven adventurer is to break through those paper-thin partition walls with my axe. "You wouldn't see this kind of shoddy workmanship back home in Moria, I'm telling you."

[Immolate]

Thanks for the sharp eye su_liam. I'd inadvertently closed up a passage through the maze. That's fixed now, thanks to you. As for the thickness of the walls in the maze, it is called "the iron catacombs" because the walls are composed of thick sheets of iron. They can be beaten through, with enough determination, but doing so would cause a great racket, a veritable rust storm, and in the end would be more trouble than it was worth. The bodies are buried beneath thick slabs of stone beneath the floor. Some of the slabs are weakened and cannot support weight, thus the "T" trap designators.

### Latest Wip ###

[arsheesh]

That map is just rocken Immolate! I like how you've offset the maps; saves space and looks really good. Man, I'd hate to have to be the one to judge the winner of this month's mapping challenge, how in the world can you pick just one? These are all terrific maps! Here's some rep.

Cheers,

-Arsheesh

[rdanhenry]

Coming along nicely. I will ask if you meant to name the baker "Jims" rather than the more ordinary "Jim". That's the only possible problem I can find. I'm looking forward to finding out more about that underground pyramid and that mouth at A11.

[Immolate]

Why than you kindly gentlemen. Jims is something of an old-world affectation; an informal James. It's just odd enough to catch your attention without seeming too foreign.

This has been hell week with one of my clients at work going nuclear and the other visiting two of my centers in the Philippines. I haven't had time to work on my homework (working on my second bachelor's degree) much less my maps, so I apologize for the lack of progress.

I always have a tough time voting. I won't vote for my own map because I believe that if there is such a thing as fate or karma, that's a good way to get on its bad side. Even if that were not the case, there have been few times when I honestly thought my entry was the best. In a contest such as this one, with the likes of Gameprinter and Djekspek and so many other talented folks, a technician like me doesn't really have much of a chance of winning, but I do have a chance of getting better at this, and nothing pushes you like a challenge.

So I'll look at all these beautiful maps with an appreciative eye and I'll pick one to cast my vote for because I'm inspired or enchanted by it. I don't spend much time regretting that I couldn't vote for all of them that I liked. There are few entries in the challenges that aren't a lot better than what 99% of the rest of the population can do, so almost any pick is a valid one. It's an honor to be allowed to participate.

[Immolate]

For your perusal, the third level is functionally complete, although I still need to add room numbers. After that, I'll probably do the room descriptions and then nit pick the rest for the time remaining.

### Latest WIP ###

[Immolate]

This would be release candidate one.

### Latest WIP ###

[su_liam]

Is there any significance to A8, B9, C2 and C3? Was this perhaps some holy place in an earlier time, desecrated by the lich and its minions? Does some deity have some interest in restoring this temple? Or maybe these were just game-mechanical touches to make the dungeon a little less overwhelming?